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Welcome
to the Save Time Online's
computer help guide
Computers are a great tool
in our modern lives, but
they can also be great time
wasters, especially when you
are learning something new
about computers. The
following resources can help
you get the job done faster
so your computer really is
your tool, not your master.
Internet
The
internet is an incredibly powerful research tool for
both you and your clients. A good understanding will
save you time and help you use a great many powerful
resources, and can be a lot of fun!
Internet
for Beginners
(source:
about.com)
URL
Universal Resource Locators, otherwise known as “web
addresses” (like
www.savetimeonline.com.au) are the names of things on the
internet. There are rules about how these names are
constructed, understanding these rules will help you
guess the names of websites so is a very useful skill!
Learnthenet
- searching the internet
The
internet has many parts. These include Email,
Newsgroups, File Transfer, and Internet Relay Chat…
Howstuffworks - Email
Howstuffworks
- Newsgroups
Webopedia
- what is FTP
Webopedia
- what is IRC
Howstuffworks
- file-sharing
The
precursor to the internet dates back to 1968 and was
created as a military control network for the US. Email
began in 1972, and in 1979 Newsgroups started. In 1983
DNS was created, allowing web sites to have names rather
than numbers. In 1993 the internet as we know it began –
“Browsing” and “Web Pages” were created giving the
internet a graphical interface.
Internet Society - links to internet history articles
Historical
Maps of the Internet
Search Engines – a giant list
of web pages that you can search
www.google.com.au
-
Using Google - Basics
-
Using
Google - Advanced Search
www.excite.com
www.altavista.com
www.alltheweb.com
howstuffworks - how search engines work
Internet
Magazines
Australian
PC User Online
For a decade, Australian PC User has been Australia's premiere source
of PC information for home and small business users. The magazine's commitment
to 100% Australian, 100% relevant content, backed by the resources of ACP Tech,
the country's largest and longest-running technology publisher, provides a
unique resource for old hands and newbies alike.
Internet
AU
-
Australia's Leading Internet magazine
Using Internet Explorer
Using Favourites
Using
Print Preview
Using
History
Virus protection
Protect your computer from spam,
viruses, hackers and more. McAfee security products represent the first
line of defence in personal computer protection. Don't let your valuable data be
compromised. Click here
and save AUD$10 on normal retail prices.
Anti Virus
software is used by your computer to identify viruses on
your computer before they can do any damage. There
always new viruses being created (average 800 per
month!) so you MUST update the definition files (that
tell the Anti Virus programs how to find each type of
virus and what to do…) if you are to be protected from
viruses. Your care (not opening suspicious attachments
etc) is also a very important defence.
Howstuffworks - how computer viruses work
Tucows
- download antivirus software
A firewall
is a security barrier between the internet and your
computer network. The firewall is set up to only allow
certain things through, preventing others from
connecting to your computer(s). Firewalls can be
Hardware (in a box –generally part of a router) or
Software (a program that runs on your computer or a
server in your network). Firewalls are especially useful
if you have a permanent connection to the internet.
Howstuffworks
- How does a firewall work
Download
a software firewall from TUCOWS
E-mail Programs
Howstuffworks - email
Learnthenet.com
- how email works
Learnthenet.com
- email etiquette
Sending an
attachment is like sending a package through the post.
Make sure that your attachment is compressed – use a
program like
WinZip or
WinAce to reduce its size. Don’t send anything
larger than 2MB.
Learnthenet - sending attachments
Normal
email accounts have a mail server that is like the local
post office that your messages go through to you. Web
based email doesn’t send you messages rather it displays
them as a web page. The greatest advantage of web based
email is that you can usually get your messages from any
computer.
www.australia.edu
www.go.com
Eudora
Eudora has
always been one of the best email clients, but until recently the full version
was only available in paid formats. Now a free edition has been released,
supported by advertising. Eudora offers every feature you could possibly need,
including:
- multiple
mailboxes
- multiple
signatures
- enhanced
address book
- file
sharing
- statistics
- in-line
editable signatures
- dynamic
HTML
ePrompter
If you have more than one email
account, tracking all of them can be time consuming. ePromter takes care of the
issue by checking up to eight AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo and POP3 email accounts. The
program includes:
-
a screensaver which shows the number of
unread messages
- a message read and message delete
facility
- auto-dial
Computer maintenance
Web Browser Helper
Webwasher
If banner
ads and inter-stitials are driving you mad, get rid of
them with Webwasher. You can select which ads or popup
windows you want to appear, whether or not to display GIF images, and even
exclude specific referrers. It can be a little daunting to set up, but works
with most major browsers.
FTBAB
If you need
to switch between Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, this program allows
you to change IE Favourites into Navigator Bookmarks, and vice
versa.
Computer Speed Helper
Rambooster
Windows -
and other applications - can be rather greedy and selfish where memory
allocation is concerned. They take huge chunks, and forget to give them
back.
Rambooster keeps their appetite
under control. This frees up more RAM, so that programs don't have to rely on
slower virtual memory. It also reduces the number of crashes and system lock ups
- that alone must make it an essential desktop tool.
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